Crews will close three northbound lanes between MLK Jr. Way and Olive Way in Seattle late Sept. 14 to early Sept. 17

SEATTLE – The final weekend of lane closures in 2018 on northbound Interstate 5 in downtown Seattle is set for the weekend of Sept. 15-16. People traveling north on I-5 will need to plan ahead as work to Revive I-5 continues.

Contractor crews working for the Washington State Department of Transportation will begin closing the right lanes near Martin Luther King Jr. Way south of downtown Seattle at 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 14. The interstate will be reduced to two lanes northbound through 5 a.m. Monday, Sept. 17.

Choose lanes carefully
To do the northbound I-5 work, contractor crews from Atkinson Construction need to split the two open lanes of traffic south of the collector/distributor.

The right lane is for travelers exiting into the downtown Seattle area. Drivers also will be able to continue through the collector/distributor and rejoin northbound I-5 to continue north of downtown.

The left lane is recommended for people traveling north of downtown Seattle. This will take them onto the express lanes, with no downtown exits. The first exit is north of Lake Union at the University District. Other exits are at Lake City Way and Northgate.

Several ramps to close
During the lane closures, crews will replace pavement and expansion joints between the Swift-Albro on- and off-ramps and Olive Way. Several northbound I-5 ramps will close to allow the work, in particular the off-ramp for the West Seattle Bridge/Columbian Way. The Columbian Way on-ramp to northbound I-5 also will be closed, but the on-ramp from the West Seattle Bridge to northbound I-5 will remain open.

Other ramp closures include:

Michigan Street on- and off-ramps

Cherry Street on-ramp

Olive Way off-ramp

Seneca Street off-ramp

University Street on-ramp

Busy weekend
In addition to work on northbound I-5, several other closures are planned:

SR 99/Alaskan Way Viaduct will be closed 10 p.m. Friday, Sept. 14 to 5 a.m. Monday, Sept. 17, from the south end of the Battery Street Tunnel to Spokane Street.

While this is the last weekend of lane closures scheduled this year on northbound I-5, crews still will close the West Seattle Bridge/Columbian Way off-ramp and the Seneca Street off-ramp for a full weekend at a date to be scheduled. Nighttime work on this $50.6 million project will continue into late 2019.